How Meero can help you with your social media strategy

Today, an effective social media strategy is a necessity for any company trying to keep up with their competition. Consumers now expect companies to be present on social media, and for many customers, it is the first touchpoint they will have with your company. That is why having a thorough social media marketing strategy is so important to your communication plan, regardless of the size of your business.

But from creating original content for your target audience to maintaining an informative point of view, there are dozens of things to keep in mind when talking with your public on social media. It can be a time-consuming job. One of the most effective ways to save time and increase your social media engagement, however, is by creating a library of high-quality custom visuals to attract your viewers.

The easiest way to create unique images is to build a custom picture and video library with Meero. From event coverage to lifestyle videos of your offices to eye-catching product visuals, Meero helps you create consistent and beautiful images to share with your public and to bring your social media marketing to another level.

Having an up-to-date content library can not only improve your engagement but can make your organization more efficient and effective. Today we are going to look at how visuals perform better on social media by improving your digital brand image while removing the headache and hassle.

Improve your engagement rate

Visuals do better on social media and it’s not just us saying that! Regardless of the social media platform you are using, visuals remain king. Studies have shown that across the board, images and videos get more engagement.

Hubspot found in a study that posts on Facebook with photos received 53% more likes than posts without a visual and 103% more comments! And it’s not just photos, it’s videos too. In a study that analyzed more than 777 million Facebook posts last year, posts with videos received 59% more engagement than other types of posts!

Instagram has seen changes regarding engagement recently as well:

While the average engagements for photos have increased by 46.4 percent, the average engagements for video posts have increased by 53 percent, showing that engagement growth for video is outpacing photos.

And that’s only talking about visuals for your organic posts. For any truly complete social media campaigns, you’ll need photos to illustrate your display and Facebook ads while making sure that the overall style stays in the same visual realm.

According to a BCG study from 2017, display and social advertising are becoming more and more important as advertisers follow their consumers to a digital-first mentality.

“Globally, since 2011, spending on mobile online video has doubled year on year and spending on social media advertising has grown 40% to 60% per year, according to Magna. We are rapidly reaching the point when companies will spend more on social, search, online video, and display advertising than they will on traditional platforms.”

This means in order for your social media marketing plan to be complete, you need to consider all of these different outlets at the same time, in order to ensure continuity across your different touchpoints.

This brings us to our next point, how professional photography helps improve your brand’s social media image by creating a homogenous look from the get-go.

Help with your branding

Have you ever passed a hair salon with a photo from the ‘70s that is sun faded and curling at the edges? It’s a turn-off, isn’t it? You probably wouldn’t want to book an appointment there for fear of leaving with a mullet (business in the front and oh no in the back). Your online visual content can have the same effect on social media. If you are using old or unprofessional photos, then that is the image people will have of your company. Full stop. Unprofessional images online=unprofessional company.

One solution to this problem is stock imagery. There is some beautiful stock imagery out there, but there are a few risks involved.

Issues that come with Stock Photos

For one, companies that use a lot of stock images tend to mix styles and the end result is that websites end up looking inconsistent. This is doubly true if you’re choosing pre-edited photos that rely heavily on filters.

The second issue that comes with using stock photos is that typically stock photos do not come with exclusivity. Some companies offer exclusivity for an additional fee, but without that, there is no guarantee that your photo won’t be used by 100 other companies and even by your competitors... because if you have favorite photos, odds are others like it too. Check out this Glamour article that chronicles the most famous stock photo model that you didn’t know you knew to get an idea.

Finally, stock photos typically have an expiration date. Rather than buying the copyright of the photos, you typically buy the license, which more often than not is limited by production size and by time.

Rather than dealing with all that hassle, you could have an entirely custom photo library of what makes your business unique. Your employees, your products, your dishes, your way.

Brand image on social media

Studies have shown that one way of improving your bottom line is by having consistency across your digital marketing. According to LucidPress, “the average revenue increases by 23% when brands present consistency.” Having a consistent image across all of your social media visuals and website helps customers create a connection with your brand that will become easier to remember across your social networks. This includes having a consistent color palette, and the same type of images because visitors will associate those colors and the tone of your photos with your company. To learn more about the tangible effects of having a concrete brand image, check out this article.

Remove the hassle and move faster

If you don’t have a graphic designer on hand to help create visuals and video content, the easiest way to guarantee a consistent look across all of your social media platforms is to make sure that all photos are on-brand. This ensures that no one is using photos that might have copyright or don’t have a model release avoiding a future potential crisis.

Additionally, reactive social media posts are often received better, and by having a content library on hand, you can improve your reaction rate when that perfect hashtag starts trending. It’s a practice that is called newsjacking, and it’s very effective when done correctly! A great example was Oreo during the blackout of the 2013 Superbowl. They reacted quickly and were able to use a premade visual of an Oreo and turn it into social media gold.

By having their assets on file, they were able to create this post and piggyback on the tidal wave of posts following the blackout.

Click here to learn more about Meero, and get started with your custom content library in no time!